Alaska resident John Sturgeon walks outside the Supreme Court, Monday, Nov. 5, 2018 in Washington. Sturgeon sued the Park Service in 2011 after it told him to stop operating his hovercraft on stretch of the Nation river that passes through the federally created preserve. The State of Alaska would permit this, but the National Park Services regulations said he could not. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

WASHINGTON - An Alaska moose hunter can “rev up his hovercraft” in search of moose, the Supreme Court says.

The court on Tuesday limited the National Park Service’s authority to enforce laws and regulations on state-owned rivers in Alaska. Justices held unanimously that the Park Service can’t enforce a ban on amphibious vehicles known as hovercrafts on rivers that run through national conservation areas.

The outcome was a victory for hunter John Sturgeon. Three park rangers ordered Sturgeon off the Nation River within the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve in northeast Alaska. They told him it was illegal to operate the noisy craft that can navigate shallow water or even mud.

Justice Elena Kagan said in her opinion that Sturgeon “can again rev up his hovercraft in search of moose.”